Amanda Harris, also known as Barbie Barbell is see here setting her world record bench press. She pressed 187.6 pounds at a body weight of 112 pounds and being 17 years of age. I’m pretty sure those are the numbers for her age and weight. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
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Barbie Barbell is one strong woman. She’s an inspiration to girls all around the world as well as parents. Makes you want to spend more time on yourself, getting into shape, eating better and having your kids follow in your footsteps doesn’t it?
Even it the sport is not your type of thing, the dedication to her discipline, bench press, deadlifts and squats should leave you inspired. Where other kids are perfecting their wii, Barbie is moving weight around.
I do not like the vid, first she is wearing the vest to help the lift, her form is horrible, body position is not good, wide grip, etc… It would be cool if she could do it with proper form without the vest.
I see where a guy does not like my from and then he makes a stupid remark about a vest. FYI there are NO lifting vests so this tells me he does not know a thing about my sport. As for my form it’s called sumo stance and my hands are in perfect placement once again a guy spouting off about something he knows nothing about what he says. I have been told by top officials in many federstions my form in all three lifts are picture perfect. Proof is I have won 13 world championships. Why fix something that’s not broken?? Have a blessed day everyone.
peace,
**BB**
Not sure why my name got ripped out of the post above… Hood Workout is my avatar.
First off, congrats. You did a great job. I can not bench that percent of my body weight and would love to be able to. My comments might have been a bit off. In no way did I intend to knock what you were doing or had accomplished.
Here is a better shot at what I was trying to say: for someone trying to get in shape and workout, the form used above is not recommended. You would want your back flat, arms a bit closer, and about the vest comment… I am not not familiar with the sport. I know at local gyms, guys will put on the shirt/vest and that will help them bench more by contracting their arms. It appeared that is what you had on, as your arms were pushed forward and when you were done the person stretched something out for breathing room.
Thanks for the comment Barbie.
@Hood – it wasn’t the comment that made me change your name, it was the keyword phrase in your name. What’s your name? I’ll replace it with your name.
as it says above the comment entry form, I request / require real people’s names, not keyword phrases
Sorry for the confusion. Barbie Barbell, again sorry for any disrespect. I am going to be posting videos of myself soon, demonstrating various exercises, so you are welcome to go to my site and critique as well. They will be obvious once posted. I am trying to drop 30 pounds. I am trying to knock that off in the next three months. Shouldn’t be hard but who knows. I have a decent workout going and most of it is hood, hence the blog for motivation.
Impressive, but is this how you want to shape your body? In order to lift much more you’ll need to bulk up your triceps, shoulders back, and core. Possible, but grotesque on a woman of your delicate build.
-A husky, impressed, and conservative W.A.S.P.
Um, Matt, have you seen her Dad? I’m pretty sure he’s got her on a program that they’re both very happy with.
Barbie – What’s your dad’s story? he’s a pretty big guy himself. What’s his claim to fame? (I know you’re going to read this, lol, might as well ask)
it’s not necessary to “bulk up” parts of your body to get stronger. take a look at the best light- and middleweight powerlifters of the past. heavy weight, low reps, partials and lockouts done in a rack can make your whole body incredibly strong without puffing you up. not just muscles, but bones, tendons, joints and ligaments, too.
from what i’ve read of her workouts, amanda is doing exactly what she should to get stronger without packing on bodyweight.
and her form is right on.
well put Deadman
little guys can often times out lift the big guys
Horrible form back should be flat with the bench not so bent shes going to hurt herself. I know so because im a PT. Not tryin to pick on her or anything but shes lookin to get an injury
Hey Zak,
First off being a PT does not make you an authority on powerlifting. Most PT’s are clueless when it comes to limit strength. As for my form it is picture perfect in training 100% of the time/ I have been in over 85 competitions and I have placed 1st every single time against teen women and open class women as well. I am one of if not the best in my weight class and to date I have never had a spinal injury in fact I have lifted with scoliosis my entire career. My father is a professional strength coach and works with professional athletes from all walks of life. He constantly produces World Champions in Powerlifting and Boxing. So your comments on here are useless and unwarranted. It’s funny how people like you come here and criticize my form yet they have no clue about my sport that I am an undefeated World Champion, now go spout your advise to people that have no clue about training because you are clueless yourself when it comes to my sport!
peace,
**BB**
@Barbie – I saw that comment come into my inbox and I thought “I think Barbie could answer that comment better than I ever could”
Barbie Barbell – World Power Champ! Well stated
Namaste
R
I’m just a pastor who has been a pretty good athlete my entire life and am still in very good shape in my middle age. I think Amanda is a great role model, not just for young ladies, but for all of us. In a nation that continues to struggle under the devastation caused by obesity & other health problems she models for young people that you can choose differently. I have pointed both my teen kids, as well as some of the adults I train, to her amazing career. I believe she is an inspiration. For me personally I am amazed that tiny little body can lift so much weight. Most men would love those numbers:) Amanda, I know you will read this. Don’t listen to the haters, just keep doing what you are doing. As a father with athletic children your age, I’m very proud of what you are doing. Keep up the great work.
HR
Hello Pastorman,
Yes I do read the comments on here thank you very much for the positive words. As for the people that critisize me OH well maybe they should spend more time in the gym and less time watching me (LOL). I do what I do because I have fun and really love lifting weights and helping others. I see the people that speak badly about me as people that have low moral values, low self esteem and a severe lack of confidence in themselves so they find someone that is doing better in the sport or activity they have failed in and belittle that person so that they can feel better about who they are. So instead of anger I feel sorry for those that feel like they have to bash me. Regardless of what they say it will not change a thing I do in fact it motivates me to do more and here is why. There is no better way to prove them wrong that me being successful. “Success is the sweetest of all revenge!” So when I am all over the place having fun and meeting new friends and fans they same pathetic people will be sitting behind their computer at home spewing their hate about me or someone elses success, but STILL SITTING AT HOME!!!! How sad:>( Once again thank you so much for your motivation and kind words:>)
peace,
**BB**
Hey!
I am a female firefighter in the US Air Force, deployed in Iraq right now. I was looking to get better in my bench press and a fellow firefighter told me about the bench shirts. You being so experienced with bench pressing and being a female what is the best shirt for me? I am very new to the sport and would love your input.
Thanks!
Dear Estrella,
There are many shirts to pick from and all of them are very good. I highly suggest you contact Inzer Advanced Designs in Longview Texas and speak with one of their consultants. They will be able to help you select the proper shirt for your experience level. I personally use a shirt called the RageX in a single ply material. However that is a pretty extreme shirt for someone just getting started. The Inzer EHPHD is the first shirt I ever used and I set several world records in that shirt. The EHPHD is more flexible than the RageX as it is a very stiff shirt and takes some getting use too. Here is the web site http://www.inzernet.com/ and the toll free number is 1-800-222-6897 tell them Amanda Harris aka: Barbie Barbell sent ya. I wish you much success in your future lifting. Maybe we will meet on a competition platform one day!!!!
Hello everyone WOW it has been a while since I’ve been here. I have taken a break from Powerlifting the last 2 years to pursue my dreams of becoming an IFBB pro-figure model. I have been equally successful in the NPC Figure world as I was in Powerlifting. I have never been beaten as a Teen in the NPC now 5 shows and I always have finished in the top 5 and in most cases I have been runner=up in the Women’s Open Class and I have become the youngest NPC National level Figure Model in the history of the sport. I was also named NPC Athlete of the year last year by PoseDown Magazine and I was on the cover of their January Issue. I learned the discipline from training with my father over the last 11 years and having the faith in myself has always helped me to excel in all I do. I do miss Powerlifting and I fully plan on coming back and setting some more world records in all 3 lifts. Just so you all know I LOVE lifting and always will. Right now I am 18yrs old and still weigh less than 120lbs. My squat is over 420lbs, my bench-press is 245lbs now and I can dead-lift 365lbs. I have been lifting extreme weighs since my 9th birthday and to date I have never had a serious injury nor do I have a bad back, bad knees or bad shoulders. In fact I feel better and stronger than I ever have. My focus right now is still figure but when the time is right you can expect to see me on the WPC World Platform once again doing what I love the most getting in my Canvas Squat Suit and squatting what most girls can’t even budge. Ya gotta love it!!!! Love ya all even the haters!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you!!! Keep it up and don’t let anyone knock you down!!
Well it’s been over a year since I visited this page. I hope everyone is still training and hitting new PR’s in the gym. Last November (2010) I made my offical comeback into Powerlifting after an almost 2 year break. I had gotten so strong with all my lifts that my scoliosis was reallt starting to bother me when I was squatting. I had gotten stronger than my spine could handle, in fact I was able to squat 405 for 3 to 5 reps and 420 for a single. However everytime I went over 400lbs my back would lock-up on me and cause pain for several days after training. (Not muscle soreness more like a knife in the back pain) So after an MRI showing some compression on T-2 – T-5 my dad said it was time to give my body a rest. I never stopped training I just switched speeds and moved over into the NPC for 2 years and competed in the NPC Figure Competitions. I competed 7 times in 2.5 years and won the teen division everytime. I also was runner-up in the women’s open class too and I became one of the youngest competitors to ever compete at the National Level against the best women in the country. But my love is Powerlifting so last November I started benching heavy and won the WABDL Teen and Womens Open World Bench-press World Championship. In just about 4 weeks for now I willl be in Reno NV competing for my now 17th World Title as I am lifting in the WABDL World Championships again in the Junior Division and the Women’s Open Class too. My numbers are increasing big time I have benched 265lbs in the gym. I have also started training for full meets again too and have hit some really big numbers in the gym on my squats. In fact go over to youtube and check out my last video posted from September of 2011 and see my Pendulum Power Squat of 720lbs. The true weight on that squat is 65% of the total weight on the bar. It equals out to a 468lb squat. This nice thing is no major pain in my spine!! So it won’t be long before I am cleared to start with free weight squats again and getting back into the full meets again and taking my title of Pound for pound the strongest female in the world back! FYI: My book about my life as a female athlete with scoliosis is due to be released end of 2011. So check in at http://www.barbiebarbell.com and I will post the release date as soon as I get it. You will also be able to purchase the book on my online store on the new web site that will be released about the same time the book comes out.
peace,
Amanda “Barbie Barbell” Harris